Queensland LNP leader Tim Nicholls and deputy leader Deb Frecklington take a tour of Rock Trade Industries, a quarry at Helidon in the Lockyer Valley, as part of the 2017 Queensland election campaign.GLENN HUNT

Jobs promised by man who helped get rid of 14,000

THE state's northern regions have received the cold shoulder during the first day of the Liberal National Party's election campaign, with the party prioritising its threatened candidates in the south-east corner.

While Opposition Leader Tim Nicholls swept through Springwood and the Lockyer Valley visiting small businesses, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk journeyed to the Whitsundays before bunkering down in Townsville overnight.

The LNP is fighting to maintain or win a number of marginal seats across the regions, including Pumicestone and many further north.

The Opposition's new 10-year economic policy promises to create 500,000 jobs across the state while increasing the threshold for payroll tax for small and medium businesses by $25,000.

The party says the plan would let more than 14,000 businesses "grow" without being hit with greater tax bills.

Mr Nicholls dismissed claims it was a gamble traipsing across the south-east corner before heading north.